AoS Scenario Review: Ignite the Master Forge
/
Best Case Scenario is a regular column written by Martin from Narrative Labs, reviewing narrative play scenarios, missions and battleplans for Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar and more. Check out Narrative Labs on Twitch, Twitter and Facebook for the latest streaming times, and for some fantastic interactive narrative gaming.
One of the first things I do when I get my hands on a new publication is check out any new scenarios there are to see what new ways to play I now have. Many get ‘added to the toolbox’, some I decide quickly just don’t work for me, and sometimes I come across a scenario that makes me want to play it immediately – well the next opportunity I get anyway.
Ignite the Master Forge from the latest Fyreslayers battletome was one such scenario. I loved how it utilised the then-new terrain piece that Fyreslayers had access to, I loved how the battleplan was laid out, and I could immediately see lots of different ways to use it in different situations without needing to alter much.
As I wrote in my article talking about how I review scenarios, I look at 3 things in particular:
The narrative of the scenario and how it’s reflected in the victory conditions
Interesting mechanics for the narrative play toolbox
How adaptable is it to other narrative situations?
The narrative of the battleplan is about a Magmic Battleforge that will hopefully restore an entire magmahold in Shyish. As it’s a master forge it’s powered by 4 forge fire braziers that, if they can be lit, will help fuel the magma forge. The only problem is the hordes of Nighthaunt or other undead creatures that currently inhabit the magmahold. The scene is set for a frantic battle where the Fyreslayers try to break through to the magma forge, relighting as many forge fire braziers as they can before they’re overwhelmed by the creatures currently in power here.
I love the story behind this – so much of Age of Sigmar is about the recovery of lost glories (or the hiding of terrible secrets) and this battleplan speaks to that part of the lore in particular. I also like that while there is an ultimate objective – ignite the forge – there are secondary objectives to achieve along the way.
The Fyreslayers can relight the forge on a 6+ in their hero phase if they’re close to the Magmic Battleforge in the centre of the battlefield, adding 1 for each of the 4 forge fire braziers that have been lit so far. In the battle I played (which was a slight variant I’ll talk about later) it came down to the wire with just 1 hero phase left to attempt the deed and 3 braziers lit. Sadly I didn’t manage to roll the value I needed and was driven back before I could succeed in my mission. Despite that it was a great game.
I’m always in two minds when it comes to a victory being determined by a dice roll. In the game I played it was a hard-fought mission where in the end I just managed to get myself into the position to have a single attempt at lighting the forge. Having all that hard work taken away from me by one of those little cubes seemed in a sense to steal some of the tension away – I know that’s an odd thing to say about Warhammer.
I recognise it is a dice game, but sometimes if it’s always going to come down a single dice roll, no matter what I do as a player, I can feel a little cheated. I could be doing really well but then at the end of the game I roll that 1 and it’s all over – or my opponent could be beating me into the ground, but I roll that lucky 6 and all their hard work means nothing. I love games that come down to the last roll of dice – I think they’re the best games, but that dice roll is usually my final attempt to destroy a model I’ve been trying to kill all game, or the run I need to reach that final objective. That last dice roll has been built up to during the game and you never know until you get there what that key roll is going to be. In this scenario you know from the start what that key dice roll is going to be and that no matter what you do, a lucky or unlucky roll at the end will determine the winner. Despite taking two paragraphs on trying to explain that, it really is a minor quibble, and doesn’t take away from a great scenario.
In terms of mechanics, there are two things I particularly like about this scenario – the Fyreslayers deployment and the forge fire braziers.
The forge fire braziers are deployed in a square around the magma forge in the centre of the board. The Fyreslayers are given the option to split their forces into two contingents, with each one being able to deploy within 12” of one of the short table edges. I get a great sense that the Fyreslayers are the organised force, who have recognised they need to come at the magma forge from both sides, both to divide the enemy and to try and get all the braziers lit as fast as possible before pushing on to the centre. However, the Fyreslayers can choose not to divide their forces if they don’t want to, giving them a clear choice on how they want to approach the scenario, and I like this extra element of choice from a tactical point of view, but also from a narrative point of view – how will your general approach this situation?
I also really like the forge fire braziers as “supporting objectives” – you can choose to light a couple or none and push on for the main magma forge, hoping for that 6 (maybe 5) on the dice or you can choose to spread your forces a bit more initially to light as many as you can before heading for the main objective. Each lit brazier supports your primary goal, but they’re not essential (although you could argue that hoping for a 6 on the dice is a daring approach). While I like narrative games to have a defining objective (as this scenario does), I enjoy the idea of secondary objectives and especially in this case where they help you achieve the main objective. In other circumstances you could create an entire campaign off this scenario, where each game is about lighting an individual brazier before the last game at the magma forge, the outcome greatly determined by the success or failure in previous games.
I mentioned earlier that when I played this scenario I did a slight variation and this is why this particular battleplan really appeals to me – not only is it a bit different from other scenarios, it’s also easy to adapt it to a variety of different situations. In effect, this scenario is a ritual-type scenario, although one where the player performing the ritual doesn’t have control of the ritual site from the start (a nice twist of this type of scenario). However, when I played this scenario we treated it as a break-out.
The magma forge was replaced with a powerful Purple Sun of Shyish endless spell that was being held in place by 4 mystical chains that were anchored at the four points on the table that represent the forge fire braziers. The goal for my forces was to break as many chains as they could and then go and release the spell from its prison. The more chains they broke, the easier it was to release the spell at the end. We also added a bit more peril to both sides by making it dangerous to linger too close to the spell as models nearby would be in danger of suffering the spell’s effects.
From a narrative point of view this was, in my mind, a very different story to the one presented with the battleplan but it worked really well and showed just how flexible the scenario was. Maybe the central idea is a mechanism that needs to be destroyed, and the forge fire braziers are weapons that will help you do that, maybe it’s a ritual in progress that you’re trying to disrupt by taking out the nodes of the ritual first. I think there’s lots of different stories you can put on this battleplan to play it with any armies, and beyond anything else, for me, that’s the mark of a really great scenario.
Have you played this scenario? Have used it for a different narrative? What are your favourite scenarios? If there’s a particular Age of Sigmar battleplan or Warhammer 40,000 mission you’d like to see reviewed, then let me know in the comments, and I’ll try to give it a go!
